1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of providing a therapeutic regimen for a patient wherein specific medicament information comprising at least one of the name of the patient, the name of the medicament, the dosage of the medicament, the time of day, the day of week and the Julian date for the patient to take the medicament is provided on each of a plurality of blisters of a prefabricated medicament container and wherein the first medicament to be taken by the patient after dispensing is arranged in a first position in a first column and a first row of the prefabricated container wherein subsequent medicaments to be taken by the patient follow in sequential fashion.
2. Prior Art Statement
It is known to first provide a printed sheet having dosage information thereon and thereafter adhere previously prepackaged strip form blister packs onto the sheet alongside the printed material. The person administering the medicine removes an individual blister from the printed sheet, administers the medicine and records certain time related information for control purposes upon the sheet and upon dispensing all the medication contained on the sheet, returns the card with the blisters removed therefrom to the dispensing pharmacy as a permanent control record. For instance, see the U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,992 issued on Nov. 23, 1971, to Osborne, et al.
It is also known to manually package solid medication into integrally connected individual sealed plastic blisters covering the backing on the blisters with a label strip having drug indicia thereon as a substitute for dispensing medicine in souffle cups. For instance, see the U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,346 issued on Dec. 28, 1971 to Carl Burnside.
It is further known to provide a medicinal dispensing device comprising 25 units arranged in a square having means for accessing the contents of blisters of a blister pack by lifting the corner edge of a lidding material by gripping a corner edge of the lidding in a cutout between selected blisters. For instance, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,856 issued on Dec. 25, 1973 to Milton Braverman.
Additionally, it is known to provide a multiplicity of blister cards having medicaments carried on the blister cards in sequential order on the individual cards and from card to card wherein the blister cards are placed in a stacked array in a base adapted to support the stack. For instance, see the U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,238 issued on Dec. 26, 1989 to Jay A. Batchelor.
It is still further known to provide a reminder system for providing an indication when a dose of medication should be taken by providing a calendar type blister-pack initially dispensed by a physician with a separable time reminder device indicating a predetermined dosage schedule. For instance, see the U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,729 issued on Dec. 4, 1990 to Kent P. Steinnagel.
Yet another known package assembly for dispensing medications comprises an empty blister sheet selected by the pharmacist who then fills the blisters with pharmaceutical medications, positions a lidding sheet over the blisters and presses the cohesive layers together. The lidding sheet has a paper backing sheet with appropriate printed information at each blister location, the information including a given time for a given medication in the corresponding blister. The completed assembly is then placed in a framework which provides support for pushing the medication through the lidding sheet. For instance, see the U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,851 issued on May 14, 1991 to John J. Wick. Considerable assembly is required to make a completed package and the frame surrounding the assembly must be sufficiently strong to resist breakage while pushing the medication through the lidding sheet.
Another medication containing package known in the art comprises a tear-off tab having a date on the tab and an intermediate layer with a second breakaway panel aligned with a blister chamber containing the prepackaged medication. After the date tab is removed, the medicine in the blister pack is then pushed through the foil lidding material. For instance, see the U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,960 issued on Aug. 23, 1994 to Jerry Price. The date tab is preprinted and contains only dosage information, no other patient or medication information is available on the package. Additionally, the package is specifically made difficult to open to prevent children from opening the package blisters.
It is also known to provide a blister for the user to store a part of a medicament for later use. In some cases, a medicament is not available in a proper dosage and thus a multiple of the dosage is provided by the pharmacist. The patient then divides the dosage as directed and with this device then stores the unused part in a blister having a storage strip for covering the unused part of the medicament. For instance, see the U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,466 issued on Feb. 23, 1999 to Martin Hulick. Patient and medicament information is presumably provided on a separate sheet as is conventional and thus no information appears on the package to indicate to the patient that a particular medicament has been taken.
Finally, it is known to provide a travel vitamin and pill organizer which may hold one of eight interchangeable discs wherein the organizer has a LCD for displaying the current time and scheduled time for the next dose. For instance, see the Travel Vitamin and Pill Organizer available at www.sharperimage.com. This device must have the LCD reset each time one of the discs is replaced. No patient nor pill information is available on the organizer to indicate to the patient what pill is being taken.
Although there are a number of prepackaged medicaments on the market which contain preprinted information comprising the name of the medication, the dosage and possibly a date tab, there is not available a blister package having specific patient, medicament, date and time information printed on the cover of each blister at the time of dispensing of the medication, which when removed by the patient, indicates to the patient that the medication has been taken. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a prefabricated medicine container package having multiple blisters, or pockets, to hold individual or multiple dosages of medicine therein. The container is constructed of a disposable material, such as plastic or cardboard, etc. The number and arrangement of the pill blisters in a particular package will typically correspond to the frequency of the particular medicine dosage for a particular patient, such as a particular package having three rows and seven columns of pill blisters for medicine to be taken by a patient three times a day for one week, although any number of rows and columns may be used. When filling a medical prescription, a pharmacist may deposit the appropriate dosage of medicine in each blister and thereafter seal the blisters with a film of appropriate material in a substantially airtight manner. The film may be constructed of a thin layer of aluminum or a clear plastic film, self adhesive label, etc., and is normally applied by a pharmacist. The film may be applied by hand or by a machine at the pharmacy.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a method of providing a therapeutic regimen for a patient comprising the step of dispensing at least one medicament of the therapeutic regimen into a prefabricated medicament container, the step of printing an outside surface of a sealing sheet with medicament information, the step of arranging the medicament in the prefabricated medicament container wherein the medicament to be first taken by the patient after the step of dispensing the medicament into the prefabricated medicament container is in a first position in a first column and a first position in a first row of the prefabricated medicament container, the step of aligning the medicament information printed on the sealing sheet with the medicament in the prefabricated medicament container, the step of closing the prefabricated medicament container by adhering the sealing sheet to the prefabricated medicament container, the step of closing a closure cover, which may be child-resistant, over the prefabricated medicament container, the step of clasping a clasp to a marginal edge of the prefabricated medicament container and the step of providing means for removing a piece of the sealing sheet from the blister wherein the patient, after removing the piece of the sealing sheet and discarding the piece, removing the medicament from the blister and taking the medicament is subsequently reminded that the medicament has been taken by the absence of the piece from the prefabricated medicament container.
A feature of this invention is a method of providing a medicament and a prefabricated medicament container therefor, the prefabricated medicament container having a plurality of blisters covered with a printed information sheet wherein the medicament in one of the plurality of blisters further comprises the step of providing a different medicament in an adjacent one of the plurality of blisters, the medicament in the adjacent one of the plurality of blisters to be taken by a patient at a time spaced from the time the patient is to take medicament is a first one of the blisters wherein the time of taking the medicament in one blister is specified in the printed information covering the one blister and the time of taking the medicament in the adjacent blister is specified in the printed information covering the adjacent blister.
An additional feature of this invention is a method of providing a medicament and a prefabricated medicament container therefor, the prefabricated medicament container having a plurality of blisters covered with a printed information sheet further comprises the step of providing a different medicament in an adjacent one of the plurality of blisters, the medicament in the adjacent one of the plurality of blisters to be taken by a patient at the same time as the time the patient is to take medicament in a first one of the blisters wherein the time of taking the medicament in the one blister is specified in the printed information covering the one blister and the time of taking the medicament in the adjacent blister is also specified in the printed information covering the adjacent blister.
An aim of this invention is to provide a method of supplying a medicament and a prefabricated medicament container therefor, the prefabricated medicament container having a plurality of blisters covered with a printed information sheet further comprises the step of providing the same medicament in an adjacent one of the plurality of blisters, the medicament in the adjacent one of the plurality of blisters to be taken by the patient at a time spaced from the time the patient is to take the medicament in the first one of the plurality of blisters wherein the printed information over each blister corresponds to the medicament in the respective blister.
A goal of this invention is a method of administering a medicament and a prefabricated medicament container therefor, the prefabricated medicament container having a plurality of initially open blisters thereafter covered with a printed information sealing sheet wherein perforations are disposed through the sealing sheet which are aligned with perforations provided in longitudinal and/or transverse shoulders of the prefabricated medicament container during the step of closing the initially open blisters.
An attribute of this invention is a method of administering a medicament and a prefabricated medicament container therefor, the prefabricated medicament container having a plurality of initially open blisters thereafter covered with a printed information sealing sheet wherein perforations are disposed through the closure cover, these perforations in the closure cover aligned with the perforations in the longitudinal and/or the transverse shoulders of the prefabricated medicament container and the perforations in the sealing sheet.
A purpose of this invention is to provide a method of dispensing a medicament and a prefabricated medicament container therefor, the prefabricated medicament container having a plurality of initially open blisters thereafter covered with a printed information sealing sheet wherein perforations in the closure cover are extended through a living hinge lengthwise of the closure cover and through a clasp on the cover wherein the closure cover, the prefabricated medicament container and the sealing sheet are separated at the perforations into separate columnar units wherein the specific medicament to be taken by the patient as printed on the outside surface of the sealing sheet at substantially the same time of each day allows the patient to place the columnar unit at a location where the patient is most likely to reside at the time specified for taking the specific medicament.
Another goal of this invention is to provide a method of dispensing a medicament and a prefabricated medicament container therefor, the prefabricated medicament container having a plurality of initially open blisters thereafter covered with a printed information sealing sheet wherein perforations are disposed through the sealing sheet transversely across the closure cover thereby establishing transverse perforations through the closure cover, the prefabricated medicament container and the sealing sheet. Thus, the closure cover, the prefabricated medicament container and the sealing sheet may be separated at the perforations into separate row-like units, wherein a daily regimen of medicament captured in the plurality of blisters of the separate row-like unit to be taken by the patient as printed on the outside surface of the sealing sheet covering the row-like unit allows the patient to carry the separate row-like unit while remote from the location wherein the patient retains the remainder of the regimen.
Another feature of this invention is to provide a prefabricated medicine container package having multiple blisters, or pockets, to hold medicine therein, covering the multiple blisters having the dosages of medicine therein with a cover sheet that contains dosage and patient information and providing a section of the sealing sheet that extends across a living hinge of the prefabricated medicine container that is adhered to an inside surface of a closure cover, the section having drug reaction and side effect information relative to the medicament contained in the blisters printed on an exterior surface thereof and/or in a separate flyer inserted into the completed integrated medicament package between the cover sheet and the closure cover.
Another purpose of this invention is to provide a prefabricated medicine container having multiple blisters, or pockets, to hold medicine therein wherein in a step of dispensing the medicament of a therapeutic regimen in at least one of the initially open blister comprises the step of dispensing a plurality of distinct medicaments in the one initially open blister.
Another aim of this invention is to provide a method of dispensing a medicament and a prefabricated medicament container therefor, the prefabricated medicament container having a plurality of initially open blisters thereafter covered with a printed information sealing sheet whereafter the therapeutic regimen is dispensed in the prefabricated medicament container, the method provides for closing the prefabricated medicament container with the sealing sheet, closing a closure cover over the prefabricated medicament container by clasping at least one clasp over a marginal edge of the prefabricated medicament container and also comprises the step of providing the medicament in the blisters corresponding to one week""s therapeutic regimen arranged in seven daily row-like units and morning, midday and evening columnar units.
Another attribute of this invention is to provide a method of dispensing a medicament and a prefabricated medicament container therefor, the prefabricated medicament container having a plurality of initially open blisters thereafter covered with a printed information sealing sheet whereafter the therapeutic regimen is dispensed in the prefabricated medicament container. The method provides for closing the prefabricated medicament container with the sealing sheet, closing a closure cover over the prefabricated medicament container by clasping at least one clasp over a marginal edge of the prefabricated medicament container and also comprises the step of providing the medicament in the plurality of blisters corresponding to one month""s therapeutic regimen arranged in seven row-like units corresponding to the days of the week and four weekly columnar units corresponding to the weeks of the month.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent by a careful reading and a broad interpretation of the scope of the following description. For instance, it is fully within the scope of this invention to provide a medicament in a single column for a patient requiring only daily dosages of the medicament or two or more columns for a patient requiring more than one dosage of medicament.